Analysis

Will COP28 fail after dropping fossil fuel pledge?

For the Albanese government, and many others, the test of success or failure at COP28 is not necessarily a fossil fuel phase-out, but simply making progress.

Hans van LeeuwenEurope correspondent

Dec 12, 2023 – 7.55am

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Dubai | According to the garrulous gallery of climate activists at COP28, the talks in Dubai are teetering between success and failure. That sounds like a headline, but what does “success” actually mean?

For the activists, and for many ministers, too, success would mean that the 198 nations in the COP process had agreed to phase out fossil fuels. The shift should happen in quick time, they say, preferably without recourse to carbon capture and storage.

Hans van Leeuwen covers British and European politics, economics and business from London. He has worked as a reporter, editor and policy adviser in Sydney, Canberra, Hanoi and London.